Virtuosity: More Like Virtu-awesome-ty…

          With every new technology, what comes with it (often enough), is a fear or anxiety within the public toward that technology. Cloning comes to mind, when certain fears were represented by use of giant dinosaurs in Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993), or the terrifying Michael Keaton clones (was that just me?) of Multiplicity (Harold Ramis, 1996). There are many examples. When virtual reality entered reality, evidently, so did a fear of it or at least caution toward it. A film like The Lawnmower Man (Brett Leonard, 1992) is exemplary of this. Not so long after The Lawnmower Man another film was made by the same director that explored other dangers of virtual reality. Virtuosity (Brett Leonard, 1995), a movie that I couldn’t help but think about throughout this week’s readings and film screening, is that film.

“Just because I’m carrying the joy of killing your family inside me, doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends.”                            -Sid 6.7

          Of course, it’s more than a stretch to say that people were ever afraid of a virtual ‘god’ invading their phone lines. It’s also hard to say that there ever existed any concern that a virtually created bad guy created out of a cocktail of the minds of 150 serial killers and psychos will inject himself from his virtual world into a synthetic android body and start killing people in the flesh (yet!). Of course, that is the plot of this underrated gem, where Russell Crowe plays the part of the sadistic Sid 6.7. Denzel Washington plays Parker Barnes, an ex cop-turned prisoner who lost his badge, and a bit of his mind when his wife and child were murdered years before the film begins. Assigned to test this new, police training virtual reality, he is the only prisoner who can take down Sid. As an added twist, one of Sid’s personalities is the murderer of Barnes’ wife and child. Thus, when Sid escapes, Barnes is freed in exchange for his capture.

“How are the wife and kids? Still dead, huh? Well… that’s reality for ya!”                                                               -Sid 6.7

          Anne Balsamo says in her article “The Virtual Body in Cyberspace” that “what is becoming increasingly clear in encounters with virtual reality applications is that visualization technologies no longer simply mimic or represent reality – they virtually recreate it.”(125) In The Lawnmower Man Brett Leonard’s representation of virtual reality is one that transcends the real world. It may appear to some as a crude, semi-representation of reality, only with flying cars and bodies of metallic goo, but the sensations that people seem to feel when inside it seem superior to those within the real world. Dr. Angelo cannot resist his addiction to the virtual, nor can Jobe. Even when Jobe brings Marnie into the virtual world, her pleasure seems greater than real pleasure, and her fear and pain worse than those in reality.

          In Virtuosity the virtual world is almost identical to the real. The only difference in this created world is the fact that it has, actually, been created. Sid 6.7 has been made out of elements of reality, therefore he’s reality that’s been taken, manipulated and re-created into a virtual reality. The consequence in this case is that the creation has risen above and destroyed his creator. Harkening back to Frankenstein’s monster, Sid 6.7 had become a real live monster.

          This is always the case with new technologies. Creators can only create, and there may come a point where the creation evolves out of their hands, and begins changing on its own. Take the internet as example. Although it’s obviously not changing on its own, it is a real world technology that has evolved far outside the grasp of its original creators (whoever, and however many of them there are). If there existed a will to destroy it, it’s doubtful that unless the most drastic of measures was taken, that it could happen. Like in The Lawnmower Man, one may have to invade and explode internet H.Q (yes, I am sadly aware that there is no such thing), or stab it with a hunk of glass, a la Parker Barnes of Virtuosity.

(To archaic android) “To think, you constitute one of my ancestors. I’m vaguely offended by that.”                                           –Sid 6.7

          All this is in service of saying something that many people may already know. People often fear what’s new and unfamiliar, whether they admit it, or are even aware of it. Otherwise films like these would probably not exist. The early 90’s was the virtual reality fad. Since then, it’s kind of escaped public consciousness and/or interest and/or scientific interest. Other technologies and developments preceded it, others came after it. Wonder what’s next?